Month: June 2018

The 2nd Boston/Paris Biotechnology Summit was held on Sunday 3 June 2018 at the Boston Exchange Conference Center, just prior to the 2018 BIO Convention held in Boston MA. The Boston – Paris Biotechnology Summit is an exclusive, trans-Atlantic bridge designed to foster innovative synergies between biotech and pharma companies, healthcare-focused cities and regional clusters, and institutional, philanthropic and strategic investors.

The Summits is designed to spark projects, financing and strategic deals to solve unmet medical needs and improve patient lives globally. The 2018 Summit was managed by an Organizing Committee with support from an Expert Advisory Group. Over 200 attendees registered for the Summit (no-shows of only <10%), representing 135 organizations based in Atlanta, Bordeaux, Chicago, Lille, Limoges, London, Lyon, Miami, Nancy, Montreal, New York and Greater NY Area, Toulouse, Vancouver, etc.

The majority was split 50%/50% between France and the USA. We counted close to 100 CEOs, decision makers or equivalent level I attendance. The BOSTON-PARIS Biotechnology Summit is an independent initiative supported by a panel of professionals from the biotech industry on both sides of the Atlantic. It seeks to establish relationships between Boston and French, European and international players and to stimulate and sustain synergies in investment, science, “market access” and regulatory practices.

The efficient transfer of French biotech companies to the US, particularly in the Greater Boston area – the industry’s “Worldwide Hub” – demonstrates how these firms have matured in the life sciences. The aim of the Boston-based 2018 Organizing Committee (Youssef Bennani PhD, Soheila Gharakhanian, Shahin Gharakhanian MD, DPH, Frederic E “Rick” Pierce II,) was thus establish “Win-Win” relationships in both directions.

The first Summit had been held in May 2017 at the Institut Pasteur in Paris, France. In two years, the Summit Co-Founders and Organizing Committees have achieved the following milestones:

1) The Summit has become the premiere French-American biotechnology event held on a single day,

3) Vision, strategic awareness and networking focus for start-ups. Media coverage of the 2018 event included two press releases in Boston (30 May) and Paris (17 April), as well as Linked In postings and cover-page headlines in the widely read and referenced French news magazine “Biotech Finances” [No. 813, dated 28 May 2018].

The 2018 program and content were determined after research and feedback from the biotechnology community. This year’s central theme was “From the Promise of Raising Capital to the Reality of Clinical Trials”. The Organizing Committee, (Soheila Gharakhanian, Shahin Gharakhanian MD, Rick Pierce, speaking) laid down the format for the event, and official representatives from the City of Boston (Krista Zelatores, Chief of Staff for Economic Development to the Mayor of Boston) and the Consulate General of France in Boston (Valery Freland, Consul General) opened the Summit.

The 2018 Vision on Science and Business Strategy lectures were given by the three leaders in the field:

The 2018 Organizing Committee would like to thank all the participants, the City of Boston, the Consulate General of France, our generous Sponsors (BIONEST Partners, IPSEN, MWE: McDermott Will Emery,4Clinics, Nanobiotix, CPL Physicians, as well as, Genopole & Clintec), Supporting Organizations from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and France, and the 2018 team, including our reception desk volunteers and the Boston Exchange Conference Center.